Posts Tagged “stitch maps”

A change of heart

By | August 25, 2014

You know how I said Stitch-Maps.com would throw up its hands and say, “I can’t do that” when asked to draw a cable cross on a WS row? Well, I’ve been convinced of another approach. Tech editor extraordinaire Karen Frisa has pointed out that a cable cross abbreviation can be interpreted in a couple ways. […]

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The WS conundrum

By | August 21, 2014

Cable crosses are typically worked on right-side rows. But what if Stitch-Maps.com is asked to draw a cable cross on a wrong-side row? What should it do then? Take 2/2 RC, for example. It’s defined as “Slip 2 sts to cn and hold in back, k2, k2 from cn” – that is, knit all the […]

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Where to draw the line?

By | August 19, 2014

With hundreds of possible cable crosses, where should Stitch-Maps.com draw the line? Which cable crosses should it support, at least at first? To figure this out, I pulled a dozen stitch dictionaries, reference books, and pattern books off my shelves. Which cable crosses did they use? The results were interesting, though not too surprising when […]

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A matter of legibility

By | August 18, 2014

Like I said, I think most cabled stitch patterns are best charted using traditional, grid-based charts. Then you can use simple, streamlined symbols like these: But with stitch maps? You can’t rely on a surrounding grid for context. In some way, each symbol has to indicate how many stitches are being crossed, and how those […]

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The LT/RT controversy

By | August 17, 2014

When it comes to cable cross abbreviations like 2/2 RC, the StitchMastery Knitting Chart Editor really gets it right. That piece of charting software recognizes a slew of cable cross abbreviations, all in the same form: The first half of the abbreviation specifies the number of strands, and the number of stitches in each strand: […]

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Choosing abbreviations

By | August 15, 2014

The first step in adding support for a new set of stitches to Stitch-Maps.com is figuring out what abbreviations to recognize. Which bits of text should map (no pun intended!) to which symbols? With cable crosses, that’s no small feat! In Charted Knitting Designs, Barbara Walker lists 80 basic cable crosses, and notes many more […]

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Musings

By | August 14, 2014

Don’t get me wrong. The grand majority of the time, I think that cabled stitch patterns, like knit/purl patterns, are best charted using traditional grid-based charts. The grid provides structure, making it possible to choose symbols that clearly represent the fabric with a minimum of clutter. But I still want to support cables at Stitch-Maps.com. […]

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Slightly obsessed

By | May 4, 2014

In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m a bit obsessed with stitch patterns. So it’s no surprise that, as I’m flipping through Textured Stitches by Connie Chang Chinchio, part of me is oohing and aahing over the lovely garments, but a bigger part of me is drooling over the stitch patterns. Case in point: the lace […]

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Two-fer

By | March 27, 2014

Remember how I said I was going to update my patterns to include stitch maps? Yeah, that project fell by the wayside. (Too many projects! Too little time!) Today, though, I present to you a two-fer: two sock patterns updated to use stitch maps in addition to traditional charts and written instructions. First up, Corrine: […]

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Jolie, revisited

By | December 5, 2013

Long-time readers of this blog will remember Jolie, a lace scarf knit in Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine. Ditto my rantings on how its edging should be charted. Of course, those rantings pre-dated Stitch-Maps.com. Don’t you just love the stitch map for the edging? No “no stitch” symbols, and a clear understanding of how the parts […]

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